Karakul Lake, Kashgar

Asia » China » Xinjiang » Kashgar
October 5th 2007

Published: October 6th 2007

Edit Blog Post

SF Girl

Drive to Karakul Lake

Blue skies

We took a day trip 200 km from Kashgar to Karakul Lake. The drive along the China-Pakistan highway took more than 4 hours since we stopped to admire scenery, go to the bathroom, etc. Karakul lake is 3600 meters above sea level, and located 200 km east of Pakistan. Although the lake was our destination, the drive there was actually the highlight of the trip.

I was a little concerned about the high altitude of Karakul lake. It is at 3600 m and the highest alpine lake in the world! Considering I was ill from the altitude of 9,000 ft at Bryce Canyon, I was a little nervous, even though we were only planning to be at the lake for the afternoon. Our tour guide said that renting oxygen masks for Y50 would be an option. Of course my health and well-being are worth the Y50! I told Matamjan, our local guide, to sign me up for one of those! I also popped a Diamox the night before and that morning, just to be safe. Not sure if it was the Diamox I took, or maybe I'm just paranoid, but I was fine and didn't feel anything from the altitude.

Tri-colored mountains

I took a picture of the "oxygen mask" that turned out to be a huge tank! 😊

The Diamox causes urination, plus I've read that drinking plenty of water curbs the effects of altitude changes, AND I drank coffee to prevent my caffeine headache. Sooo... I had to go to the bathroom three times on the way there. First bathroom we had to pay Y.50 to use and there was no electricty nor running water. There were stalls with a communal trench. Disgusting since those that went #2 since nothing gets flushed. Smell was debilitating. Bathroom #2 I didn't dare go into, so we (5 of us) found a large boulder to pee behind. Let's just say that the women on the tour and I became friends after that. Yuk - but the best toilet of the day - clean, no smell! Bathroom #3 was a porta-potty with a hole in the ground. No lights, no water, but it was so cold outside so the smell was not as bad. The contents were emptied straight onto the ground and urine trickled out the back. Also disgusting and had overflowing contents. There weren't enough rocks nearby. One women just went

Sand dune mountains

walked further away and just went anyway though. Just wanted to share with you exactly how desolate this place is. I hope I've seen the worst. When I get home I will never complain about a public toilet again.

Anyway, the drive was really beautiful with really unique scenery. We first passed some mountains that were tri-colored... first brown sand mountains, then a layer of red rock, then the highest mountains were white from the snow. Neopolitan!

There was a military checkpoint on the road, everyone has to show their passport to continue. Be sure you bring your passport if you go!

We passed by herds of sheep, yaks, rivers, grasslands, sand dunes, and snow capped mountains. It was cold! I had on a tank top, tshirt, long-sleeved tshirt, fleece vest and hooded sweatshirt. Brrr! I was still freezing.

The lake itself was pretty, but it was a little overcast, so not as beautiful as it's talked up to be. Nonetheless, the scenery is very different... We had lunch in a yurt and hung around the lake for another hour until everyone decided they were too cold to stay any longer. I rode a camel along